The Verge puts this into context: PS3 cost approximately 60,000 Yen (nearly $650/£410/€480) in Japan when it launched in late 2006, and as we all know very well, it released at an outrageous $599/£425/€599 at that time.

Exit Theatre Mode

So is this rumored price point good news? Yes, if it’s true. A 40,000 Yen price point in Japan indicates that PlayStation 4 may launch in the west at around $400/£300/€350, or $200/£125/€150 less than PS3 cost in 2006. However, this is all speculation; we hope to have plenty of hard facts following Sony’s event in New York City on February 20, which IGN will attend.

The newspaper report also indicates, according to The Verge, that the PlayStation 4 will launch in Japan and the US in 2013 (no mention of Europe indicates that the console won’t launch there until 2014) and that the DualShock 4 – or whatever it will be called – is “roughly the same shape” as the DualShock 3 currently used with the PlayStation 3.

We’ve reached out to Sony for official comment on Asahi Shimbun’s story, and will update when we hear back.

Colin Moriarty is an IGN PlayStation editor. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN and learn just how sad the life of a New York Islanders and New York Jets fan can be.